April, 2006 My Fellow Rotarians - Rotary's Global History Fellowship

District 6440 Histories 2005
They are Nigeria, Egypt, India, Pakistan, and
Afghanistan.
1986 - Rotary Village Core, for communities not
large enough for an official Rotary Club to be
organized, 1,767 now in existence, in 46
countries.
The 514,105 Paul Harris Fellows, as of Jan. 31,
1996, have supplied funding for all of these
Foundation programs. In June of 2006 Rotary
reached a milestone of 1,000,000 Paul Harris
Fellows.
Total number of women in Rotary on 30 June
2006, was 168,000+ Members, with 2,350
Presidents, 51 District Governors. In 1995, it was
estimated that there were approximately 47,400
women Rotarians, in North America, 45,000 of
which, are members of U. S. Rotary Clubs. Other
areas of the world accounted for the remaining
women members, as follows, (estimates only):
Africa, 375; Asia, 4,700; Europe, 2,150; Latin
America/Caribbean, 3,100; Australia, New
Zealand, South Pacific, 1,800.
In 2007 there were over 1.2 million Rotarians, in
more than 32,000 Rotary clubs, in over 154
countries. There are 90,643 members in the 3,941
Interact Clubs, for high school age youth, in 81
countries and 5,382 Rotaract Clubs, for 18-29
year old members, in 134 countries, all of them
interested in serving some of the needs of their
communities.
Statistics of Rotary's tremendous worldwide
growth are impressive; however, Rotary's
accomplishments through the years defy
expression in figures. The fellowships created
improvement in the conduct of businesses and
professions, playgrounds provided, crippled
children helped, student grants, communitybetterment.
Undertakings, increased understanding among
nations, the countless other achievements of
Rotary Clubs, and the activities of Rotary
Foundation, all must be included when viewing
the progress in Rotary.
In 1996, through a New Generations initiative,
Rotarians increased their involvement with youth.
The RI Board adopted the District Leadership
Plan to give districts more flexibility in their
structure. An Asia Regional Conference was held
in Bangkok, Thailand. New countries included
Antarctica and Armenia and membership grew to
1.2 million in 28,134 clubs. Three New
Foundation programs were launched: Helping
Grants, New Opportunities Grants, and 3-H
Planning Grants. Contributions to The Rotary
Foundation Annual Programs Fund totaled $60.3
million and the Permanent Fund reached $66.1
million.
In 1997, the RI Council on Legislation met in
Delhi, India. The first RI President’s Conference
was held in Russia. An emphasis on Urban Peace
was instituted. Literacy was adopted as a pilot
program.
In 1998, Rotarians were encouraged to take on
projects that addressed children’s needs. The RI
Board and Foundation Trustees allocated $20
million for a one-time initiative called Children’s
Opportunities Grants, to fund projects to help
children. RI established a special Dream for the
Future Committee to accept and evaluated project
ideas from Rotarians. The Permanent Fund
reached $105.2 million.
In 1999, emphasis was placed on strengthening
clubs and admitting Central and Eastern European
clubs into districts. The Rotary Foundation
approved the 10,000 th matching grant and
approved $2 million to support the newly
established Rotary Centers for International
Studies in peace and conflict resolution during a
six-year pilot period. The number of clubs totaled
29,728 and club membership is 1,193,461.
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